The Olympians: Book 2
by SiriusBlackLover2000
Summary: Riley, Justin, Adam, and other Camp Half-blood members are thrown into a quest when they find out that Hades is plotting to overthrow the gods of Mt. Olympus and cause a war that could potentially destroy all of the United States. all 3 main char. are OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Nothing exciting really happened during my school year except that I got pulled out during class to go one on of the most dangerous rescue mission I've ever been on.

I was racking my brain trying to think of what the heck a supplementary angle was during math class when my mom came into the classroom. She was in wearing her suit and carrying her brief case, wearing an urgent look on her face. I knew that first, she had just come from work, and second, something was definitely wrong.

She gestured for me to come over.

"We have to go. Get your stuff, okay?" she whispered.

I nodded and took my binder and homework folder to my locker where I pulled out my backpack and stuffed them into the first pocket. I looked at the picture of my boyfriend/best friend Adam Pierce that was taped to my locker door and then closed it up again.

When my mom had finished talking to my teacher, she led me at a fast pace down the stairs to the office.

"Mom what's up?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

"You'll see. Someone's waiting for you in the foyer. I'll be in the car, okay honey?" she said, already heading out the door to the school parking lot.

I walked to the foyer, wondering who would be waiting for me.

I turned the corner and gasped slightly. Sitting on a bench playing with a pocket knife was a boy around fifteen with jet black hair that stuck up in the back, wearing a striped dress shirt with a leather jacket over top, black strait-leg jeans and black and white skate shoes was Adam Pierce.

He looked up and grinned his insanely cute grin. I was immediately lost in his bright blue eyes identical to his father's, Zeus.

Oh yeah, I should probably tell you before I continue the story that Adam and I are both demi-gods. A demi-god is someone who has a god for one of their parents. Adam's father was Zeus, lord of the sky, and my father was Poseidon, god of the sea. Make sense?

Anyway, he looked up and grinned his insanely cute grin. I was lost in his eyes, blah, blah, blah. He stood up, stuck his pocketknife in his pocket (where else?), and embraced me as I jumped into his arms.

He set me down a minute later and kissed me. "How's it going?"

"It's... going." I replied.

"Come on, we've got a lot to talk about." he took my hand and we walked to my mom's car.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yep." Adam and I climbed into the back seat and buckled up.

"So what's going on?" I asked.

"I got a Iris Message from Chiron saying that we needed to get a demi-god to Camp Half-blood yesterday." Adam explained. "We've got to pick up Justin and then get to an elementary school in Philadelphia."

"Sounds like a plan." I said.

"Are you guys going to be okay? You could get attacked by some monsters or… fall off a cliff or something." my mom said.

"Mom we'll be okay. We fell off a cliff because Justin was driving." I assured her. Adam snorted with laughter. "And it was raining. So… the roads were slippery. Anyways, don't worry."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, mom!" I told her firmly. "If anything happens I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay but be careful." mom pulled up at a bus stop where our best friend Justin McDonald sat. Justin was sixteen, tall, with brown hair and brown eyes (his father was Hermes). He looked tanned since the last time I had seen him.

He smiled and came over to the car. He opened the door and I slid over so he could sit in the back with Adam and I.

"Hi, Justin." my mom said.

"Hi Ms. Bloom." Justin replied.

"Hey Justin," I said, giving him a one armed hug.

"Hey guys." he grinned. "So, camp hasn't even started and we have a mission."

"Yep." Adam replied.

"Hey, I got you guys something when I was in Hawaii." Justin reached into his backpack. He handed me a plastic bag full of pop can caps (I collected them) and handed Adam a pocket knife with a Hawaiian floral pattern (Adam collected pocketknives).

We laughed.

"Thanks, man." Adam grinned, sticking it in his pocket with his other one.

"Yeah, thanks." I put in. "It's really thoughtful of you."

"No problem." he shrugged. "I used up a _lot_ of my pocket change getting those pop cans."

We laughed again.

My mom stopped in front of a big school. A bunch of elementary school kids were running around on a playground or playing soccer in a huge field.

"Make sure you call me if anything goes wrong, okay?" mom said for about the five billionth time.

"We will, mom." I assured her automatically.

"Bye, honey." I leaned forward so she could give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye, boys." she said to Adam and Justin.

"Bye, Ms. Bloom." they replied.

We got out of the car and my mom drove off.

"You're mom's really cool." Adam said.

"Thanks." I replied.

"So… who is this half-blood exactly?"

"Martin Jones." Adam answered.

"And how are we going to find him?"

"No idea." both boys replied in unison.

Yep, that's pretty much how our genius plans start out. I guess you could say we make it up as we go along.

"I have an idea." Adam said, although he sounded like it might not work.

"What?"

"Well… it probably wouldn't be very successful but we could ask the secretary for Martin and tell them we're his relatives. Obviously the secretary wouldn't believe us but that's why we've got the Mist on our side." he said.

The Mist was what kept most mortals from seeing the unusual things that us demi-gods did. Take sword fighting for instance. What would you do if someone pulled out a huge, sharp sword an started attacking someone? Well, if you are mortal, you wouldn't see it.

"I guess it'll have to work." I said.

"It's worth a shot." Justin nodded.

We went through the front doors of the large school campus. We headed into the office.

The secretary looked up and smiled. "Hello, can I help you?"

Adam snapped his fingers. "We need Martin Jones. We're his relatives."

"Of course. I'll page him for you." the secretary smiled, looking dazed all of a sudden.

She picked up the phone, pressed a button and said, "Martin Jones to the office, please." her voice echoed through all the PA systems inside and outside of the school.

A minute later, a boy around twelve or so came in.

"Martin, your-"

A deafening roar cut off the rest of the secretary's sentence.

Mine, Justin, and Adam's eyes widened.

"That better not be what I think it is." I squeaked.

"What's going on?" Martin asked, looking at us.

"Come on, kid, we have to go!" Adam said. He look out his cell phone and flipped it open. It turned into a beautiful long sword; Slayer.

Martin stared as I uncapped Riptide, my lethal ballpoint pen, which grew into two feet of deadly celestial bronzea and Justin's club key chain grew into a heavy, metal, spiky club.

"What-"

"No time to explain. Come with us!" Adam said after another loud roar.

He grabbed my hand and started to run through the school.

Justin was just behind us with Martin.

"Where are the back doors?" Adam yelled over the screaming of the students and teachers.

"There." Martin pointed at a door.

Still holding onto my hand, Adam dragged me through the door, pushing past students and teachers running around like crazy.

Justin took a hold of my other hand and grabbed Martin's arm.

We were now outside. A tall metal fence surrounded the campus.

"Come on!" Adam let go of my hand and began to climb the fence nimbly. I followed him and swung myself over it. He grabbed my hand before I landed on the ground. Justin let Martin climb over first and then hauled himself over, landing painfully on his knees.

He gritted his teeth, His jeans were ripped and his knees were bleeding but he stood up.

"Where's the roaring coming from?" Martin asked, looking scared as Adam grabbed him before he fell to the ground.

"It's a Nemeon Lion. We have a lot to tell you but for now we have to get out of here." I said.

"What about the people over there?" Adam asked, pointing at the school. "Are we going to leave them to die?"

I opened my mouth.

"Riles, stay with Martin. Hide. We'll get rid of the lion." Justin told me.

"No! That is way too dangerous!" I argued.

"We'll be fine." Adam assured me. He looked at me pleadingly with his brilliant blue eyes.

"Fine, but just... be safe, okay?" I said, my voice starting to shake a bit with nervousness.

Both boys nodded. Before they left I squeezed their hands.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Come on, Martin." I led him quickly down the street and into an alleyway.

"What's going on?" he asked. "What's a Nemeon Lion and _why_ do you guys have swords and clubs?"

"It's going to take a really long time to explain but… have you learned about Greek Mythology yet?" I asked him.

"Yeah, we started it last week." he replied.

"You know all the gods like Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes? And the legends like Theseus and the Minotaur or Jason and the golden fleece?"

"Yeah."

"Well… all that is real."

"Yeah, right."

"I know it's hard to believe. I didn't believe it when I found out. But you have to believe it. You are a demi-god. That means one of your parents is a god or goddess of Mt. Olympus. My dad is Poseidon, god of the sea. Those other two boys are Justin and Adam. Adam's dad is Zeus, god of the sky, and Justin's dad is Hermes, the messenger god and god of thieves."

Martin frowned. "I guess it kind of makes sense… I mean, some weird things have happened to me."

"Like what?"

"Well this weird guy kept staring at me during school. He only had one eye in the middle of his forehead. When I told my friends, no one believed me. And once it was really hot outside and in my head I wished it would get cooler and right away it the temperature dropped." Martin answered.

I had a feeling I knew who Martin's dad was. Here's a hint: which god rules over the sun? Yep, you guessed it. Apollo.

"I… guess I believe you." he said.

"Good. Look, I'm really sorry we had to scare you so bad. You must be pretty freaked out. I'm Riley, by the way."

"Hi."

"You should also know that you'll be going to Camp Half-blood for the summer. It's awesome there. Trust me, you'll fit right in."

"What's Camp Half-blood?" he asked.

"It's a safe place for demi-gods thirteen and up where they can train to be heroes and stay safe from all the monsters in the real world. Since your birthday is in a month, Mr. D, the camp director, let you come early." I told him.

"Cool. Are you a hero?"

"Well… I did go on a quest last year with Adam and Justin so I guess I am."

"That's awesome!" he grinned.

He didn't seem to realize that there was a giant lion tearing apart his school. I really hoped that Adam and Justin were okay.

Another roar echoed through the streets. The sirens of cop cars and ambulances wailed, heading to the school.

"Are Adam and Justin going to be okay?" Martin asked.

"I hope so. They're really strong and brave. I'm sure they'll come back okay."

Just then, I heard someone yelling my name. It was Adam. I stood up immediately.

"Stay here, Martin." I told Martin.

Adam had a horrified look on his face. His eyes were slightly blood-shot as though he had been crying or something.

"What's wrong? Where's Justin?" I asked, realizing that he wasn't with Adam.

Adam lowered his head. "He killed the lion but he got hurt really badly."

I clapped a hand over my mouth. "Is he alive?"

"I don't know." Adam shook his head.

Tears welled up in my eyes. "Where is he?"

"Come on. Get Martin." Adam said, still not looking up.

I ran and got Martin, trying to look like everything was okay.

We followed Adam.

A bloody body was on a stretcher. It was Justin. Limp, and torn apart.

His right arm had a large chunk taken out of it. He had a long, deep gash in the side of his face, his nose was bleeding badly, and his shirt was torn and bleeding heavily.

I covered my scream with my hand.

Martin stared wide eyed at Justin.

People were pushing the stretcher into an ambulance.

I buried my head in Adam's chest, sobbing uncontrollably. He embraced me with one arm and put his other hand on Martin's shoulder.

One of the paramedics came over to us.

"Are you his friends?" she asked.

Adam nodded.

"Come with us." she let us sit in the ambulance and we raced down the road.

I sat beside Adam, my head in my hands. Justin could be dead and even if he wasn't, he was surely injured horribly.

Adam rubbed his hand up and down my back comfortingly; though his face was chalk white and he looked depressed and lost.

Finally, the ambulance stopped at the hospital.

Justin was raced away in his stretcher and the same lady led us to the waiting room.

"We need to see him!" Adam pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but you can't right now. We'll let you know as soon as soon as you can visit him." she told us calmly.

Adam knew it was no use. He collapsed into a seat and pulled at his hair.

I sat beside him, watching the door Justin had disappeared into, tears still streaming out of my eyes.

Martin looked terrified.

"I'm going to call my mom, okay?" I told Adam weakly.

He just nodded once.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialled my mom's number.

"Hello?" she said from the other end of the line.

"Mom, can you come to the hospital on 56th?"

"What happened? Are you alright? Are the boys okay?" she asked, automatically worried.

"I'll explain when you come, okay, Mom?" my voice broke.

"Riley, what's going on?"

"Just come, okay?" I said, choking on a dry sob. I hung up.

Ten minutes later, my Mom hurried through the doors.

When she saw Justin wasn't with us, her eyes widened.

"Is Justin alright?"

Adam looked up and shook his head.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I told her everything that happened in a quiet voice so no one but the four of us could hear.

She gave me and Adam a tight hug although she didn't look calm at all. She turned to Martin and said, "I'm Riley's Mom, Jay."

"Hi," he said in a small voice.

"You three must be terrified. Are we allowed to see Justin yet?"

"No." I shook my head.

My Mom sat beside me and put her arm around me. I felt a bit more comforting knowing that she was right beside me.

We waited for a long time. When we had left to pick up Martin, it had been eleven in the morning. Now it was seven thirty in the evening.

None of us said a word. We were silent as we watched the doctors and nurses come in and out of the metal swinging doors.

A few more patients came in but other than that, it was quiet and empty.

I wondered what was going on at Martin's school. The police were probably wondering what the heck was going on. For all I knew, they could have seen a space shuttle taking a crash landing thanks to the Mist.

Finally, at ten thirty at night, a paramedic told us we could see Justin. Immediately, Adam, Mom, Martin, and I stood up.

The paramedic led us down the hall and into a dark room. Justin was lying in a bed. Tubes were attached to him, his arm was bandaged and in a splint, his nose was bandaged as well, half his face was wrapped up and from his neck to his waist was bandaged heavily.

A machine measured his heartbeat.

I felt the tears come again.

I stood next to Justin and took his limp hand.

Adam had a pained look on his face. My Mom was crying and Martin looked sad, but in awe at the same time as though he looked up to Justin.

"Mr. McDonald should be alright. He'll have to stay in the hospital for a long time but he'll hopefully be right back to himself in a two months or so." the paramedic told us kindly.

She left the room.

"He helped save me." Martin said in a small voice as though he looked up to Justin.

I nodded.

"At least he'll be alright." Adam sounded as though a heavy weight was taken off his shoulders. "He won't be the same but he'll be alive."

I leaned against him. Adam put his arm around me.

"If you want, I can drive Martin to Camp Half-blood. Chiron will get him settled and when it's time, you two can catch a bus to New York." my Mom offered.

"You'd do that?" Adam asked.

"Of course I would, sweetie. This is going to be a difficult time for all of us. I'll help the best I can." Mom replied, smiling.

"Thank you!" Adam and I both said, giving my Mom a hug.

She smiled.

"Are you ready to go to camp, Martin?" I asked.

Martin looked at Justin for a minute then nodded his head.

"Come with me, sweetie. I'll drive you. You'll see Adam and Riley soon." mom put her arm around Martin.

"Thanks again, Mom." I said, wiping a tear from my eye.

"Anytime, honey." Mom kissed my forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too." I replied. And this time, when I said it, it wasn't automatic. I really, deeply meant it.

"Take care of Riley for me, okay sweetie?" Mom said to Adam.

"I will, Ms. Bloom." he assured her.

"And just call me Jay. After all, I am your girlfriend's mother." she smiled at both of us before leading Martin to the car.

As soon as they left, Adam and I turned back to Justin.

"I hope he wakes up." I said quietly. I was still crying. I had never ever cried harder in my whole life. I was so incredibly scared that maybe Justin wouldn't make it through after all.

"So do I." Adam agreed. After a minute of silence except for the heart monitor beeping, he said, "You know… Justin was so brave out there. You should have seen him. He climbed up the side of the school and jumped onto the Nemeon Lion."

"Yeah, right." I said.

"I'm serious. He was amazing. But when the lion fell down after Justin stabbed it, the lion threw him off and he landed face first into a pile of bricks and wood and stuff. That's how he got injured."

I nodded, shuddering at the thought of the pain Justin must have felt.

"I was so scared that… if he died he wouldn't know how much of an awesome friend he was to me. I mean, last year I didn't like him just because I thought he was hitting on you. I was jealous and I was a jerk. I didn't realize he was actually a really cool guy." Adam told me.

Wow, my boyfriend was deep!

"Adam… it's okay. You got jealous. It happens to everyone. You and Justin are close and he knows that. Don't stress about it. He's going to be okay and… you'll have another chance to prove you think he's cool." I assured him, taking his hand.

"You're right." he said. He sighed tiredly and leaned his head against my shoulder. "I'm so exhausted."

"Oh my gosh! I completely forgot to ask if you were okay!" I said. "Did you get hurt?"

"Not much. Just a few cuts. I got my leg scratched up a bit but I'll live." he replied.

"We should get you cleaned up." I said.

"No! No, it's okay, Riley. I'm fine." he told me hastily.

"Are you sure? Let me just see your leg." I insisted.

He reached down and lifted up his pant leg. There was a small bloody cut and his ankle was swollen, purple, and bleeding slightly.

"Adam we need to get you cleaned up. Look at your ankle!" I crouched down and pressed lightly on his swollen ankle. He grunted and jerked his leg away.

I looked up at him. "So, are you still okay?"

"I guess I'll let you get a paramedic. But if I need to get into a stretcher or a wheelchair or anything I'm gonna beat you up." he gave in.

I stood up and kissed him on the lips. "Have fun with that." I headed out of the room in search of a paramedic.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A woman followed me into the room.

"Can I see your ankle?" she asked Adam.

He nodded. She rolled up his pant leg and examined it. "Hmm… I think you have a fracture."

"So _that's_ why it hurt so much." Adam said thoughtfully.

"I'll get a wheelchair for you and we'll move you into another room, alright?"

"Oh, no-"

The paramedic had already left the room.

Adam turned his head to me and said through clenched teeth, "Thanks, Riley."

"You don't expect me to just sit around while you have a fractured ankle, do you? I'm your girlfriend, I'm supposed to make sure you're okay."

"I always thought that was the boyfriend's job."

The paramedic came back with a wheelchair. Adam sat down in it, looking extremely embarrassed and let the woman wheel him away.

"I'll come and visit you, okay?" I called after him.

Smiling, I turned back to Justin who hadn't yet moved.

I waited for another half hour. I felt my heart jump as Justin's visible eye flickered open.

"Justin!" I said, grinning from ear to ear, a fresh flow of tears pouring out of my eyes. "Justin you're okay! Oh my gosh..."

"What happened?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Who are you?"

I felt my heart sink. He didn't remember who I was. I tried to keep my positive face on and said, "I'm Riley Bloom. I'm one of your best friends. Do you remember me?"

"... No..." he replied.

He will, I told myself. He will remember everything. "It's okay, Justin. You're just in shock. You're doing great." I took one of his scarred hands in both of mine and lowered my head, unable to keep myself from crying.

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked.

"Okay." I replied. I told him what had happened in as much detail as I could. "Do you remember now?"

His brow creased as he tried to think. "No..."

"Okay. It's okay, Justin. You'll remember every-"

"How come I can't remember any of this? What's wrong with me? What are these things attached to me?!" he demanded, trying to pull one of the tubes from his throat.

"Justin! Justin, calm down. Calm down," I told him, taking his other hand gently.

He looked at me with frightened eyes. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you, Justin. Nothing. You got a little hurt in the accident, that's all. These tubes and everything are going to help you get better, okay?"

He nodded.

"Don't worry. Everything's going to be alright. You'll have to spend some time in this room, though. Understand?"

He nodded, relaxed and closed his eyes.

"Don't go!" I whispered.

"I'm just tired. Are you going to visit me a lot?" Justin asked.

"Of course I am! Don't worry, buddy," I replied.

He nodded. Soon his chest was moving up and down slowly.

"I'll be right back, Justin." I whispered. I stood up and reluctantly let go of his hand and went to find Adam.

He was sitting upright in a hospital bed. He smiled when I came in and made room for me to sit down.

I climbed into the hospital bed beside him and felt his cast with my hand. "Justin woke up."

"Really? I've got to see him!" he attempted to get out of the hospital bed.

I grabbed both of his shoulders and forced him back. "He fell asleep again. Plus, you aren't allowed to get out of bed yet."

Adam scowled. "What did he say?"

"Well... He couldn't remember anything."

Adam's mouth dropped open. I lowered my head and cried.

"He couldn't remember anything?"

I shook my head.

Adam ran a hand through his hair. "Listen, Riles. It's okay. He was in shock. It'll get better, okay?"

He took my face in his hands. "Okay?" he repeated.

"What if he doesn't get better?" I sobbed.

"Riley. Stop it. He will, okay? He will." Adam assured me, pulled me against his chest. He rubbed my back gently.

"You're right," I finally said.

"Of course I am," he smiled.

"I hope you can make it to camp on time. I don't want to be a loner." I said.

"Trust me, I'll be on time. I'll do whatever it takes to get out of here. I hate hospitals."

"Why?"

"They smell weird! They're depressing and they're way too clean."

"I agree with you." I said.

"You should get some sleep. You must be really tired, taking care of us all evening." Adam smiled. "It's already like eleven thirty.

"It wasn't too bad." I yawned though. The truth was, I was exhausted. "I'll just sleep here at the hospital."

"Are you sure? You should check into a hotel or something."

"I'll be okay." I assured him feeling my eyelids getting heavier by the second.

"You get back to Justin. I'll convince the doctors that I'm fine and I'll be out of here by tonight, I promise." Adam told me.

I nodded and swung my legs out of the hospital bed.

"Hey, Riles." he said.

I turned around.

"I feel pretty bad about not visiting you like I promised."

"Don't worry about it. We have all summer together." I assured him. I smiled before I walked back to Justin's hospital room. This time, there was someone else with him. Inside was a man in a business suit with brown hair and brown eyes. He looked sadly down at Justin.

He looked up when I approached and smiled though rather forcefully. I had seen him once before. It was Hermes, god of thieves.

"Lord Hermes," I bowed respectfully.

"Hello, Riley." he said. "I've just come to see Justin for a few minutes. I was worried when I saw what happened."

"You were there?" I asked.

"No, I saw it from Mt. Olympus. It looked even worse on the hologram. Zeus and your Dad Poseidon were pretty worried." he remarked. "Then after they had this huge argument over whose kid was a better hero. Zeus said Adam because he was fighting and Poseidon said you because you were protecting Apollo's son."

"So he is Apollo's son. I thought so." I said.

"Oh... darn. I wasn't supposed to give that away..." Hermes frowned.

"Justin was really brave." I said.

Hermes nodded. "He's always been a fighter, that Justin."

Justin lay motionless on his bed except for his steady breathing. He would have loved to know that his father, a busy god of Mt. Olympus had made time to see him.

"You know, your Dad and Zeus don't approve of yours and Adam's relationship." Hermes said, a sneaky glint in his eyes. It was amazing how he could change moods so quickly.

"They don't?"

"No. They disagree on everything except for this. And in a way their disagreeing, too."

I laughed. "They're going to have to compromise because I don't plan on breaking up with Adam any time soon."

Hermes smiled. He looked at Justin again and then checked his watch.

"I have to go. The three of you did very well." Hermes said. "Oh, one more thing! Chiron told me to tell you that Martin made it safely to camp and that your Mom is her way back home."

"Thank you, Lord Hermes." I bowed again and turned away as he turned into his true form. If you looked at a god or goddess while they were doing that, you'd disintegrate so I wouldn't recommend it.

Again, it was just me, Justin's steady breathing, and the beep of the heart monitor thing.

I sat down in the chair next to Justin's bed and watched him. I wanted him to wake up. I sat there until one in the morning until I slumped back in my chair asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next morning at six o'clock, I woke up. I saw Adam leaning against my legs, his bandaged leg stretched out on the floor and a pair of crutches beside him. I smiled.

"You're up." said Justin from his bed.

"Justin!" I whispered excitedly. "How are you doing?"

"I don't know. I can't really feel anything." he said.

I laughed quietly. "Let me wake up Adam." I reached down and put my hand on his shoulder. Adam shifted his weight a bit and opened his eyes. He looked up.

"Hi." he yawned.

"Guess who's up?" I smiled.

Adam scrambled to his feet, a little clumsy without the use of his other leg and grinned when he saw Justin awake.

"Here, sit down." I stood up and let Adam sit in the chair.

"Hey, man." Adam grinned.

"Adam! How's the leg?" Justin asked.

"Better." he replied. "Dude, you were awesome out there. You were the man."

Justin let out a raspy, quiet laugh. "Thanks. So were you. I remember what happened, now."

"Do you remember everything?" he asked, looking hopeful.

"Yeah... I think so." he replied. He looked sad for a minute.

"What's wrong, J-Mac?" I asked.

"I'll never be the same again. I definitely won't be as agile as I used to be. I might not be able to sword fight, I'll be weak, and slow, I probably won't be able to go on any quests... I'll be a lame friend." he said in the quiet voice.

"No, Justin, you'll still be the amazing friend you are. I'm sure you'll be able to sword fight still and after a while, you'll probably be right back to your old self again!" I told him, taking his hand.

"Yeah, and I'm sure the chicks will still dig you," Adam added. "Especially with your battle scars."

Justin let out his laugh again. It sounded painful. "Thanks, you guys."

"No problem." I smiled. "Hey, you know you're dad visited while you were asleep."

"He did?" What did he say?" Justin asked.

"He said that he was really worried about you but he was so proud of you. He told me you've always been a fighter and that you did really well."

Justin smiled.

"You should get some rest, Justin, You need to get better." I told him.

"You're right." he replied. "I'm so glad Dad came and visited me."

"He's really proud of you."

"Riley and I are going to grab a bite to eat. We'll be right back." Adam said.

"Are you sure you should do that...?" I asked uncertainly, looking at Adam's bandaged leg.

"Anything to get out of this hospital."

"Okay, I'll tell the paramedics."

Adam and I headed into a Red Robin restaurant. We got a table for two and a waitress took our order.

"Anything else I can get for you?" she said mainly to Adam, looking a little flirtatious.

I felt my face burn.

"Anything else, Riley?" he asked.

I shook my head. "That's it."

"I'll be right back with your order." she grinned at Adam and walked away.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Chicks." he muttered.

I smiled. "As long as _you_ don't flirt with them."

"Come on, I don't need to flirt with any... waitresses. I've got you." he said.

I giggled. "Thanks, I guess."

Adam took my hand from across the table. I smiled.

"Hey, is this our first date?" I asked.

"Pretty romantic for a first date." he joked.

"Just having you here makes it romantic." I told him, grinning.

"Okay, that was really lame but thank you." he laughed. I laughed with him.

The waitress came back, still smiling at Adam although she looked a little put down when she saw we were holding hands. "Here you are, enjoy." she was still looking at Adam when she said this. "And let me know if there's anything else I can get for you."

"Sure thing," I told her.

I was starving. And food had never looked so good. I hadn't eaten since yesterday at breakfast. Adam obviously felt the same because he took a massive bite out of his burger. I did the same and couldn't stop myself from laughing. Here we were on our first date looking like we had just come from the streets, wolfing down burgers and strawberry lemonade.

"How romantic." I said once I swallowed.

"Definitely." Adam replied. He had already drained his strawberry lemonade.

Ten minutes later we had finished the whole plate. Burger, fries, the whole thing.

"Wow. I have never tasted better food in my life." I remarked.

"Neither have I." he agreed. "I'll pay."

"Are you sure?" I asked, pulling out my wallet.

"I insist. This is our first date and usually the boyfriend pays for everything, right?"

"Okay." I gave in.

The waitress brought our bill for us. I noticed she had also stuck a phone number behind the receipt.

Adam snorted. "Pathetic. I am _not _giving her a tip. She's hitting on someone who already has a girlfriend."

"Well, I can see why." I shrugged.

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

"Because I'm ridiculously good looking?"

"Exactly." I smiled.

He smiled back and as we passed the waitress who was on her way to collect our bill, he gave me a perfect, romantic, first-date kiss.

I held his hand and leaned my head against his shoulder as we headed back to the hospital.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When we entered Justin's room, we saw he was sleeping. I let Adam sit down in the chair this time.

"Hey, I have an idea." I said.

"Yeah?"

"We have to be back at camp in three days. Why don't you come with me to stay at my house until then? My mom can drive us to camp or something."

"Are you sure? I don't want to take up any room or anything."

"It's fine if you don't mind sleeping on the pull out couch. We can visit Justin every day." I nodded eagerly.

"If it's okay with your mom and everything."

"I'll call her," I took my cell phone out and dialled her number.

"Hello?" Mom said.

"Hi, mom."

"Oh, honey, are you guys alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're fine mom. We spent the night at the hospital." I replied. "Do you think you could do Adam and I a favour?"

"Anything, honey."

"Well, we were wondering since camp was in three days if we could just stay at our house and if it's okay you could drive us to camp when it's time?"

"Of course, I'll come pick you up right now." she told me.

"Really? Thanks mom!" I said.

"Thanks, Ms. Bloom." Adam took the phone from me for a minute.

Mom laughed. "Any time. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Thanks, Mom." I took it back from her.

"No problem, honey." Mom said before she hung up.

Fifteen minutes later, we were in my car on our way to our small apartment.

"How's Justin?" she asked.

"He's doing good. He woke up twice." I replied.

"Oh, that's wonderful!"

"He couldn't really remember much at first but he's better now."

"Oh, good. I'm sure he'll recover quickly. Justin is so strong," Mom remarked.

I just smiled. Sometimes I wished she would say things like that to me.

We parked in the underground parking lot and climbed up the elevator to the main floor.

"Are you right at the top?" Adam asked.

"The highest floor." I grinned.

After a long elevator ride, we stepped out. Mom led the way down the hall and around the corner. She pulled out the key and unlocked the door.

"Welcome to our home," she said to Adam.

He looked around. "It's nice in here." he remarked.

"Oh, it's not much. We would have gotten a nice townhouse down by the ocean right where Riley likes it, but... this was really all we could find." Mom said absentmindedly, cleaning up some things and heading into the kitchen. "Are you hungry?"

"No!" Adam and I both said quickly.

"We just ate." I explained.

My mom smiled. "Okay. Make yourself at home, Adam. Riley, why don't you set up the pullout couch for him?"

"Sure." I went right over to the couch. Adam helped me as best as he could with his huge cast to pull the coffee table out of the way. We took all the cushions off and pulled out the springy, creaky mattress. "Are you sure you don't just want to sleep in my room instead? I'm used to the pullout couch."

"I'll be fine," Adam assured me.

"Okay. I'll get some blankets and try to find a pillow for you..." I opened the small closet door in between the two bedrooms. It caught a few things as they fell out. A few sheets and blankets fell out as well. I turned red with embarrassment as Adam quickly came over to help me. Our apartment was so messy.

I took a bed sheet, a blanket and a pillow and made the bed for him.

"Thanks," Adam said.

"No problem."

"Is it okay if I go get some groceries?" Mom asked, coming from the kitchen with a long shopping list and her purse.

"Sure," we answered.

"I'll be back in about an hour or so. You can walk around town or something. Just make yourselves comfortable, okay?" she smiled.

"Okay." I said.

Mom went out the apartment door and closed it behind her.

"You're Mom is the best." Adam grinned.

"She's pretty cool." I went to open a window. "She's been really stressed lately... you know. Tough economic times and... it's hard to pay for the apartment. We might move and find a better place somewhere closer to camp."

"In New York?" Adam's eyes lit up.

"Hopefully. I dunno if we can find any homes we can afford but... that's our plan." I answered. "Do you want to see my room?"

"Sure." he followed me into my bedroom. The walls were blue and green just like the ocean and covered with posters of my favourite bands, actors, and those little booklet thingies you get from CD covers. There were also several pictures of Adam and Justin tacked up. One with Adam and I with our arms around each other had a heart (Adam smiled at this) drawn around our faces.

Instead of a closet, all my clothes were in two suitcases under my bed. I had a small bookshelf crammed with a bunch of books of all sorts. My bed was small and old (I had gotten it when I was five), painted with small seashells and fish, and the mattress was lumpy, two of the lights on the ceiling were burned out, there was clutter all over the floor, the huge window that almost stretched from wall to wall. Seven pairs of Converse All Stars were lined up. A few of them old, ratty and faded, a few of them new and clean.

"I like it." he smiled.

"It's a real mess. I haven't cleaned it since before camp last summer."

Adam shrugged. "You don't want to see mine.."

I laughed and sat down on my bed. It sagged from being slept in too much. "I've lived here for a long time. I need somewhere by the sea. It's too cramped in here."

"Move to New York. You can get a nice beach house in Montauk or something and just drive to camp every summer. I'm in Mattituck so we could visit each other often. The houses in Montauk are right by the ocean. You'd love it." Adam looked me in the eyes.

"I'd love that."

There was a moment of silence in which Adam gazed around my room some more.

"I want to show you a really cool place." I said.

"Where is it?" Adam asked.

"It's by the river in the woods. I go there all the time." I replied.

"Sure."

I took some cash from the jar I kept in one of my suitcases and led Adam out of the apartment.

Adam hobbled along on his crutches and I linked arms with him down the street until I took a path into a large wood. We walked down the path and then I helped him down a steep hill.

Soon we could hear the rushing of a river.

I stopped at the edge of a large, rushing stream tumbling along.

I sat down on a rock and smiled.

Adam sat beside me and put his crutches on the ground. "I like it here."

"So do I. It's almost as good as Zeus's fist back at camp."

"Almost." Adam grinned.

I took two pennies from my pocket and handed one to Adam. "Make a wish," I said. "This is a lucky river."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

We both closed our eyes and made a wish. I didn't know what to wish for but I came up with something from the top of my head. I threw my penny into the river. Adam did the same. I would tell you what I wished for, but then it won't come true.

"I can't wait to get back to camp and start training again. I miss sword fighting." Adam said, looking up at the blue sky through the branches of the trees hanging over us.

"Me, too. I can't wait to be back in my cabin and swim in Long Island Sound every day." I smiled.

"I wonder if we'll get to go on another quest." Adam wondered, getting an excited glint in his eyes. "Was one too much for you?"

I thought for a moment. "I don't think so. I could go on another one. It was really cool, being in the real world without your parents right next to you at all time telling to look both ways before you cross the street and not to talk to strangers and stuff like that."

"Yeah. I liked the thought of being a hero. From the very moment I found out I was a demi-god I wanted to go on a quest and become a hero."

I laughed softly. A few seconds later I said, "You never told me the real reason you were on a bus heading towards New York."

Adam smiled. "I know. I didn't really want to tell you before but... I was kind of doing what we did yesterday."

"You were looking for me?"

"Yeah. I had no idea who you were but Chiron gave me your description and when I saw you I had a feeling you were a Half-blood."

I laughed. "You could have told me before. I wouldn't have been embarrassed or anything."

He shrugged.

"So how long do you think you'll be in that cast?"

Adam said grimly, "The doctors said about three weeks. I'll have to do some intense running to get my leg back into shape."

"Swimming will help."

``Uh... no thanks. I'll pass on that one.``

I grinned. "Suit yourself. We should probably head back. Come on."

I helped Adam back up the hill and we headed back the way we came from.

The day before camp started, Adam, Mom, and I were visiting Justin in the hospital.

"If I hadn't been so brave I'd probably be going with you guys to camp." he said grumpily.

We laughed.

"You'll be better before you know it. If you hadn't been brave, you wouldn't have saved all those people." I pointed out.

"We won't go on any quests without you," Adam added.

That didn't seem to help Justin's mood. "Good."

"I'm sure you'll get better soon, sweetie." Mom told Justin, a caring look in her eyes. "I need to drive these two to camp. They'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay." Justin replied.

"See you, man." Adam said.

"Bye." Justin replied.

"See you soon, J-Mac." I squeezed his hand before following the others out of the hospital room.

"Adam, sweetie, is it alright if I just drop you off at the bus station so you can get all your stuff from home and have a chance to tell your mom what happened? You and your sister can catch a bus back to camp tomorrow." Mom said when we were in the car.

"Yeah, that's fine." Adam replied. "My mom's probably freaking out. She's probably heard all sorts of stuff on the news..."

"I'm sure she'll be so relieved to see you." Mom smiled. She pulled up beside the sidewalk. "You have your bus pass and everything, sweetie?"

"Yep," Adam replied.

I handed him his crutches and kissed him before he left. "Will you be alright?" I whispered.

He nodded and whispered, "I'll be fine." then in a louder voice he said, "See you at camp, Riles. Thanks, Ms. Bloom for letting me stay with you guys and everything."

"Anytime, sweetie. Take care."

Adam closed the car door behind him and we drove back to our apartment.

"Welcome back to camp, Riley." Chiron said to me when I reached the camp borders with my suitcases in hand.

"Thanks, Chiron. It's good to be back. Did Martin make it here okay?" I asked him.

"He's doing very well. His father Apollo claimed him the day he came to camp." Chiron replied.

"Sweet," I smiled and headed in the direction of my cabin. I smiled at a few campers I knew and waved at Macy, Adam's little sister, who waved wildly back at me. I decided to look for Adam once I had unpacked and everything.

I reached my cabin and smiled. My home away from home. The walls outside were white and looked like they had had too many waves crash against them. The ceiling was shimmering green and inside and out, it smelled like the sea.

I opened the door and smiled. It was just like I remembered it. The walls changed different shades of green depending on which way you looked at it. The beds were white and had the same effect as the walls on the outside. All the dressers matched and the large mirror had sea shells all around the rim.

I unpacked my clothes, brushed my hair and closely examined myself before heading back outside.

I asked Macy where Adam was but she shrugged and said, "Somewhere in the forest, I think."

That gave me a hint. I thanked her, ruffled her hair and jogged over to the forest. I slowed to a walk and wound in and out of trees, over a few logs until I reached a large boulder which, if you looked at it from the right angle, looked like a giant fist sticking out of the ground. It was called Zeus's fist. Just as I had guessed, Adam was sitting on top of it. His crutches were on the forest floor.

"Hello up there." I called to him.

He turned around and grinned. "Hey," he said.

I climbed up and sat beside him. "How'd you get up here?"

"Took me a while but I managed to get up with one foot."

"I wish I could have been there."

"So you could make fun of me?" he guessed.

"Pretty much," I replied. He smiled and put his arm around me.

"Martin asked how Justin was. He looked pretty anxious."

"Hm," I said. "How's Martin doing, anyways?"

"Good, I think. There's about six or seven other kids in his cabin so he made friends easily." Adam answered.

"That's good." I said. "So was your mom freaking out?"

"Yeah. She was mad at me, too. She had this whole spasm about how scared to death she was when I didn't come home after the accident, and how I should have contacted her as soon as I could, and what a bad example I was setting for my sister, and how I almost got myself killed, and how rude I was being for inviting myself to stay in someone's apartment when there's barely enough room for two people, and all that stuff."

"You didn't invite yourself!"

"I know. She thought I did, though. Anyways, after that, she burst into tears and hugged me. _Then_ she went into hysterics over how glad she was that I came home alive, and that I wasn't hurt too badly, and that I was so brave protecting everyone, and a bunch of other mushy stuff."

I laughed. "So in the end, she was more relieved than mad?"

"Yeah. She made me an ice cream sundae so she must have been pretty relieved. She _never_ lets Macy and I have junk food unless it's a special occasion or something. That's why I always load up on desserts here at camp."

I grinned. "Nice."

A bell rang from the pavilion, telling us that it was lunch time.

I slid down the rock first. "Do you need _me_ to catch you this time?"

"I wouldn't recommend it," Adam answered. He slid down and landed on his good foot. I handed him his crutches. "Thanks."

We joined the huge clump of campers as we headed to the pavilion.

Every camper departed into their separate lines depending on their cabin. I was the only member of the Poseidon cabin and my line was second so I got to the food pretty quickly. I filled my plate with the finest foods and dumped it into a fire as an offering to the gods of Mt. Olympus. I thanked my dad for getting me and my friends out of danger when we went to find Martin.

Then I filled my plate again with food for myself and sat down alone at my table. my goblet filled up with Dr. Pepper as soon as I asked it to (it may have sounded weird but everyone else did it) and took a gulp right away.

After everyone was finished eating, Mr. D (The camp director) stood up and made a few announcements. "I'd like to mention a few things." he began in his bored voice. "We have two new campers Martin Jones and Terry Boot. Welcome to camp, blah, blah, blah. Next, On behalf of Chiron and I, we must pay our respects to Justin McDonald from the Hermes cabin who risked his life along with Adam Pierce from the Zeus cabin and Riley Bloom from the Poseidon cabin to save a Half-blood and is now in the hospital suffering from horrible injuries. Have a nice evening." He sat down immediately.

There was a loud scraping of many chairs being pushed away as everyone left the pavilion.

Macy was skipping along beside Adam, holding onto his arm while he struggled to get down the stairs with his crutches. Once they were at the bottom, Macy started running and almost dragged Adam along with her. He saw me and mouthed 'Help me!'

I grinned and came over to them. "Hi, guys."

"Hi Riley!" Macy exclaimed, grabbing onto my hand right away and swinging it around.

Adam looked relieved.

"Let's play tag!" Macy said. "Adam's it!" She started to run away.

I laughed at Adam who glared at Macy. "You do realize I can't use one of my legs, right?"

"Oh, you'll manage." Macy called behind her shoulder. "Catch me if you can!"

Adam dropped his crutches determinedly and tried to run after her.

"Oh no you don't," I took his hand and dragged him back. "If you want your leg to heal you need to take care of it." I gave him his crutches.

"Aren't you guys playing?" Macy asked, running back to us. She got a sneaky grin on her face not unlike Adams. "Or do you need some alone time?"

"Yes. You can go find your little friends. Bye, Macy." Adam said firmly.

"Bye, guys!" Macy skipped happily away.

I shook my head. "Why can't you be more like your sister? Always positive."

Adam gaped incredulously at me, his eyes wide.

"I'm kidding. Come on," we headed towards the dock.

"Don't make me go swimming." Adam told me.

"I won't. We're just going to sit down and watch the sunset." I assured him.

"Oh, very romantic." he remarked, setting his crutches down beside him as he sat down. I sat beside him and took off my sneakers and socks, letting my feet dangle in the cold water. I wanted to jump in and swim the whole night.

We looked up at the sky, alight with brilliant orange and pink until it faded to a deep shade of purple before it reached the mountains.

"It's beautiful." Adam said softly.

"Yeah," I agreed.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Three weeks had passed in which Adam had gotten his cast removed, he and I began sword fighting practice whenever we could, and very bad news was delivered to Camp Half-blood by Hermes.

Chiron called all the cabin leaders to the Big House; Rebecca Montag from the Aphrodite cabin, Cameron Wood from the Hermes cabin in place of Justin, Joseph Allen from the Hephaestus cabin, Brittany Grace from the Athena cabin, James Highmore from the Apollo cabin, Adam from the Zeus cabin, Castor Harrow from the Dionysus cabin, Emily Harder from the Demeter cabin, Brutus McKenzie from the Ares cabin, Laura Davis from the Hera cabin, and of course me from the Poseidon cabin.

Chiron looked very grim. "I have just been informed of some unfortunate news." he began. "Hermes, the messenger god has told me that Hades, god of the underworld, is plotting revenge on the gods of Mt. Olympus and is currently building an army. To make it harder to strike back, he is unleashing monsters to attack all the demi-gods that are old enough to come to Camp Half-blood."

There was a moment of shocked silence and then immediately everyone started talking all at once.

"What are we going to do?" Rebecca wailed.

"What are we _supposed _to do?" I asked.

"I dunno... build an army of our own?" Adam shrugged.

"How are we going to withstand this?" Brittany said, pounding her fist on the table. "We're no match against a god."

"Why would Hades want to attack Mt. Olympus?" Castor wondered.

"It's Hades. That's what he does." Brutus growled.

Chiron held up his hand and everyone was silent at once.

"Adam is right. The least we can do is build an army of Half-bloods to protect camp and help fight with the gods of Mt. Olympus." he said.

"Chiron, why is Hades rebelling against the gods?" I asked.

"He states they have treated him poorly by not letting him have a throne let alone live on Mt. Olympus. He is also mad at his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, for breaking their oath to have no more children."

"But he was the one who broke it in the first place!" Adam said angrily. "And now he's blaming mine and Riley's dads!"

Chiron nodded. "As Brutus said, that's Hades."

Brutus glared challengingly at everyone around the table.

"So can you get to the whole point? I was kind of just doing my nails." Rebecca asked.

Everyone rolled his or her eyes.

"Gosh, Rebecca, that _was_ the point!" James said as if it were obvious.

"So we can go?" she perked up.

"Not yet, I'm afraid." Chiron said. "The reasons I gathered you here was to warn you and to make sure you and your cabins get ample training. There will be a battle soon. I can't determine how soon, but we all need to be prepared."

Everyone was silent. A battle. A war. We'd have to fight and some of us would die. Mt. Olympus could be destroyed and all the gods overthrown by Hades who would cause mass destruction upon the world and most importantly, the western civilization.

"Joseph, I trust you and your cabin will be making extra armour?"

"We will, sir." he replied, looking brave.

"We will have a few more Half-bloods coming in and I think the best people to help them start their training are Adam and Riley." Chiron looked at us.

We nodded.

"There is much more to be done. I trust that all of you will train as hard and often as you can?"

We all said yes.

"Thank you. This will be a very difficult time for us for others." Chiron said. "I would like to see Brittany, James, Adam, and Riley for a moment. The rest of you may go."

Everyone stood up, though very silently, and made their way out of the Big HouseChiron gestured for us to sit down. "You three need to train extra if possible. Two weeks after Justin comes back, you will be going on a quest."

Adam and Justin looked like it was their birthday. I didn't know what to think and Brittany looked the same as usual, as if she wanted to have a spirited debate with someone.

"In preparation for this battle, we need as many Half-bloods as possible. I am trusting you to get all the Half-bloods eleven years old and up to safety. I have a list of all the states where you will find these Half-bloods." he continued.

We were silent. Then: "If you'll excuse me a moment, I'll got get the list for you."

As soon as Chiron had clip-clopped out of the room, James and Adam whooped an high-fived each other. Adam turned to me with a huge grin on his face and kissed me.

"This is great! Another quest! Can you believe it, Riles?" he asked.

"I wish I didn't have to." I said.

His face softened up and he rubbed my shoulder comfortingly.

"Hey, Riley," Brittany said.

I turned to her.

"Um... do you know when Justin is coming back?" she blushed as she said this.

"Four weeks, I think." I replied.

"Cool," she smiled, blushing even more.

Chiron came back into the room with five pieces of paper in his hand. He handed one to each of us and kept the other one.

The list looked like this:

Cincinnati, Ohio: Julie Linklater

Troy, Michigan: Jonathan Schepper, Drew Everhart

Seattle, Washington: Anna Dalgleish

Westchester, New York: Jini Arden, Katie Bell, Dean McCurday

Mattituck: New York: Steven Jackson

San Francisco, California: Luke Daniels, Sadie Watts

Bakersfield, California: Gina Turpin, Tom Jenson

Austin, Texas: Sunday Blanch, Blaine Johnson,

Dallas, Texas: Lily Ervin

Raliegh, North Carolina: Charlie Black, Eva Malcom, Cameron Tuck

"That's all. You may be dismissed now." Chiron said.

We got up, thanked him, and walked out of the Big House.

I thought I was going to throw up. I, Riley Jay Bloom, who had almost no experience with fighting and saving lives was about to risk my life in a battle that could potentially destroy camp, Mt. Olympus, New York, and possibly the rest of the world, plus the gods, goddesses, and pretty much everyone at camp were counting on me to get a bunch of Half-bloods to safety.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked, not looking so good himself.

I just nodded weakly, trying to look brave.

"You aren't okay, are you?"

I shook my head.

He put his arm around me and drew me in close to him. "Look, I'm not going to say 'don't worry about it' or 'it's all going to be okay' because you should worry about it and it's not going to be okay. But I know you really well I and I know that you're really brave, really courageous, really smart, and really strong. Yeah, any of us could die, but I know you won't give up."

"You honestly think that?" I asked, managing to find my voice though finding it not as strong as usual.

"I know it. I've never been more sure. You never give up, Riley. It's just the way you are." he said.

I can truthfully say that I felt better after he said that. Not _much_ better, but better. The only thing I could think of was if I were to lose Adam, Justin, my Mom, and my camp.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem. Come on, I think some s'mores will make you feel better."

We headed to the bonfire and grabbed seats closest to the fire pit. The Apollo cabin led us in some cheesy Greek mythology camping songs and then put on a show of fireworks just like usual. It was like any other camp day but all of us could feel something different.

That night I forced Adam to go swimming with me. I thought he was scared of the water but he just said he wasn't a good swimmer. He stopped ankle deep and I had to swim all the way back to shore to shove him as hard as I could. Even so, he barely moved an inch.

"Come on, Adam! We did this last year! It isn't scary!" I told him through gritted teeth, pushing on his bare back.

"No. It's too cold." He replied.

"I'll fix that." I stopped pushing him and concentrated hard on the ocean. I breathed in the scent of the ocean and asked it to warm up a bit. Immediately, I felt the temperature rise until the water was lukewarm.

His shoulders slumped, defeated. "Fine. I'll swim. Just don't... abandon me or anything."

"I won't," I smiled as we waded into the warm ocean. He stopped when he was up to his chin and I was treading water. "Come on, touch the bottom."

Without waiting for him, I disappeared under water and swam until the bottom dropped and the water got darker and colder. I could see as though I were in broad daylight. I took steady breaths in and out and sat down on a large piece of coral sloped inwards like a seat. Then I looked along the rocky bottom until I found a large conch shell. I took it and started to slowly swim back to the top. Adam was swimming farther out. I pushed through the surface right in front of him and he jumped.

I laughed at him. He scowled.

A few weeks later, we received news from Chiron saying that Justin was due back to camp in two weeks. Three new Half-bloods had arrived at camp and two out of those three had been claimed by their parent. Adam and I were training day and night in preparation for the battle.

On a hot day, Marcus, who had been claimed by Zeus, Tracy, who had been claimed by Aphrodite, and Anna, who was still undetermined, were watching Adam and I demonstrate how to keep your wrist from breaking when your sword clashed with another.

``You have to make sure you have a very firm grip at all times. You bend your wrist this way,`` Adam showed them on his sword. ``And hold your arms out in front of you. Like this.``

We swung our swords together at the same time and Adam used the technique.

``If Riley hadn't been doing that, she would have gotten her wrists broken off. You guys try it.`` Adam said.

The kids got up and split into partners. After a lot of critiquing and correcting, they had pretty much gotten the hang of it.

``Good job, guys. Let's go for a water break.`` I finally told them.

I grabbed a can of coke from the cooler, opened it and stuck the cap in my pocket.

"Hey, Adam," I led him a little ways away from the other campers.

"What is it?" his forehead creased with concern.

"How outnumbered do you think we'll be against Hades' army?" I asked.

He exhaled through his nose. "I don't want to tell you."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Riles, you're scared about it enough as it is. You're already dealing with a lot of stuff and I don't want to add any more stress." he told me, taking my hand.

"I'm not dealing with a lot of stuff!" I argued. "Why can't you just tell me? I'm a part of this just as much as you are!"

"Look, I'm sorry. I already said I don't want to add any more stress.

"You don't need to treat me like I'm five years old." I scowled at him and pulled away from his hand.

"Riley, I'm trying to look out for you." he told me firmly but kindly.

"You don't have to!" I snapped.

"Look, I'm sorry-"

"Whatever." I turned and walked away. "Time's up, kids. Good work."

I exited the arena and headed for my cabin. Adam was being a jerk. He didn't need to look out for me like I were a little kid. I could take care of myself, thank you very much.

I opened the door, slammed it behind me, and flopped down onto my bed. I pulled out a book and started reading but only read about half a chapter. '_Focus, Riley_' I told myself but I gave up and dropped the book on the ground.

After an hour of being angry and staring into space, I heard the lunch bell gong in the pavilion. I got out of bed and exited my cabin. Adam was not waiting for me. I made my way to the line ups and Adam did not catch up with me.

I made an offering to the gods and then took food for myself and sat down at the usually empty Poseidon table.

I ate my chicken enchilada while staring listlessly into space. I drank my Dr. Pepper without noticing it was Dr. Pepper. I got up and was halfway to my cabin when Adam approached me. My shoulders slumped. I didn't really feel like talking to him.

"Look, Riley. I'm really sorry I made you upset. I never meant to do that. I don't want to be angry with you any more because I really like you and your my best friend and my girlfriend and if you think I'm being a jerk it's okay because I still-"

"Ugh! Shut _up_!" I growled and kissed him hard on the mouth.

When we broke apart, he grinned and said, "So does that mean you forgive me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. Also I should apologize for being a jerk. I was horrible to you."

"It's okay." Adam replied.

"Good." I smiled and took his hand. We both started walking in the same direction; Zeus's fist.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

When you see the pavilion decorated with streamers, balloons, and a huge 'Welcome Back' sign, Brittany Grace looking like Christmas had come early, and Adam and I waiting excitedly by the Camp Half-blood entrance for the white van with cards in our hands, you'll know what's happening.

Indeed, the first Tuesday of July was the day Justin was coming back.

I clutched onto Adam's hand and bounced up and down on the balls of my foot, waiting impatiently for Argus to come back from the hospital in Philadelphia.

"There it is!" Adam exclaimed. Sure enough, the white van was pulling into the parking lot. The door opened and a tall fifteen year old boy with brown hair and brown eyes wearing a white t-shirt and light jeans stepped out of it.

Adam and I grinned and waved as he approached.

"Justin!" I threw my arms around him. He hugged me back and rocked me from side to side.

Adam joined the hug and we stayed in a tight, group hug for a long time. I felt tears of happiness well up in my eyes. Justin was all right. And he was back.

"How are my two lovebirds? I missed you guys like crazy!" he said.

"So did we!" Adam agreed.

We all pulled apart and Adam and I got to look closely at him for the first time.

He had a long white scar on his face from his forehead, over his eyelid, and to his cheekbone. His nose was crooked from being broken, and his arm had a scar on it as well.

"I know. I look a lot different." as if he could tell what we were thinking.

"Justin, it's okay. You still look like yourself. Who cares, anyways? You're back and we have something to show you." I took his and Adam's hand and walked to the Pavilion.

Everyone was there, including the cleaning Harpies.

"WELCOME BACK JUSTIN!!!" they all yelled when he climbed up the steps.

Justin grinned and blushed. "You guys did this for me?"

"Of course!" Brittany said breathlessly and then blushed horribly and ducked her head.

"She's hot." he muttered to Adam and I. Definitely the same old Justin.

"It's a pleasure to have you back, Mr. McDonald." Chiron said, shaking Justin's hand and smiling proudly.

"It's a pleasure to be back, sir." he smiled back.

Martin Jones and another kid from the Apollo cabin brought out a huge cake and set it down on a table.

"Thanks, guys." Justin said, looking embarrassed.

Cake was passed around to everyone. Justin, Adam and I sat together at a table and we gave him a recap on what he had missed excluding the quest and the battle part.

"So nothing much?" he asked once we had finished.

Adam and I looked at each other.

"Well, there is something else but now isn't the time to tell you." Adam explained.

Justin nodded.

After everyone had finished saying welcome back to Justin, we went to the pine tree that guarded the camp borders.

"So what's up?" he asked.

"Well... we're going on another quest." I began. Justin gaped. "We're going with two other cabin leaders. We need to get all the demi-gods in the States over to Camp Half-blood."

"Why?" Justin pressed on.

I let Adam speak.

"Because there is going to be a war that could potentially destroy New York and the rest of the world." he told him.

Justin looked like he didn't know whether to believe us or not.

"Hades is trying to overthrow Mt. Olympus because he finds it unfair that he was banished." Adam continued. "So we're teaming up the the gods of Mt. Olympus to try and stop him."

Justin blanched. His eyes widened and he said in a voice much less confident from his usual self, "Wow. So I guess I did miss a lot."

Adam and I nodded.

"So when are we going on the quest?" he asked.

"Two weeks." I answered.

"Ah, well, I guess that isn't so bad. We just have to plan our route and all that. Who's all coming?"

"Us three, James Highmore from Apollo cabin, and Brittany Grace from-"

"Athena cabin," Justin smiled dreamily, interrupting his sentence. "I think I should ask her out."

"Where would you go?" I asked. "On a romantic Pegasus ride?"

"Good question... I'll have to figure that out." Justin said.

Adam and I shook our heads.

"Whatever. There's time. Come on, let's go steal some candy from the camp shop." Justin said, his usual sneaky glint back in his eyes.

It turned out that time flew by and before we knew it, we had three days left to prepare for the quest. Justin was starting to get back into shape and was now almost as strong as he used to be. Him and Adam were sparring in the arena while I was sitting in the stands with Brittany trying to plan a route map for our quest.

"Are you going to the fireworks with Adam tonight?" she asked.

"Fireworks...?" I frowned.

"It's the Fourth of July!" Brittany said.

"Oh yeah! He hasn't asked me yet but I'm sure he will some time today." I replied.

"I hope Justin asks me." Brittany put her chin in her hands and smiled.

"I can tell." I remarked. "Come on! Let's get to work. You can stare at Justin later."

Brittany immediately sat up and resumed her usual expression. She hated to be teased.

About a half hour later, the boys came over, both of them shirtless and sweaty.

"Hello, ladies." they both said in unison.

"Oh my _gosh_! You guys are such show offs!" I rolled my eyes at them and then grinned.

Brittany's mouth dropped open. I didn't know whether it was because she was looking at all of the scars and bruises on Justin's chest or just because she liked him.

He winked at her and she turned deep scarlet.

"Hey, Riley want to go to the fireworks tonight?" Adam asked me, opening a can of coke and taking a gulp. He let out a huge belch and flicked his bangs out of his face, spraying sweat all over me. I grimaced.

"Ugh. You are disgusting. I can't believe I'm dating you!" I used my t-shirt to wipe of the sweat.

"I'm guessing that's a yes?" Adam said.

"Definitely!" I grinned, giving him a one armed hug.

"Should I ask her now?" Justin whispered to us as Brittany continued to work.

"No! Not yet. Wait until a romantic moment. Pull her aside from everyone and ask her." I advised him.

He nodded and then cleared his throat, changing the subject.

"So, Brittany, I uh... I hear you... use a bow and arrow." he said, sitting down beside Brittany.

"Oh, yeah I do. I find it easier to use in battle with whereas using a sword, you have to learn all these fancy techniques. Bow and arrow is simpler. All you have to do is string it, aim, and shoot. It's really lightweight and easy to carry around." she replied.

"I completely disagree with that, but cool." Justin uncapped his coke and chugged half of it.

Brittany looked as though she didn't know whether to argue or to be excited that Justin just talked to her.

Adam and I exchanged glances and tried to hide our smiles.

Before dinner, a special Fourth of July barbeque, Adam and I saw Justin pull Brittany aside. We both looked intently at them. They talked for a few minutes and then we saw Brittany break out into a huge grin.

When they departed, Justin came over, looking proud of himself.

"I asked her to the fireworks." he said, smiling broadly.

"Awesome." we both gave him a high five.

We broke into our lines, got our food (which consisted of burgers, hot dogs, macaroni salad, potato salad and much more) and then walked down to the bonfire area.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to pick up my hot date." Justin grinned, straitened his hair, adjusted his shirt and then sauntered over to Brittany.

Adam and I grinned and held in our laughter, sitting down on the hill.

"Do you feel okay about the quest? Do you want to go?" Adam asked.

"Well I don't really have a choice do I? I have to go. It's not like I don't want to but... you know. It's like last year. I'm nervous." I replied.

Adam nodded. "We do have a huge responsibility on our shoulders. It's going to be extremely difficult to get all the Half-bloods in the United States to camp."

"Exactly! But you know, I have you and Justin with me so I don't have too much to worry about." I smiled.

Adam returned my smile and moved closer to me.

"I still feel bad about not visiting you like I promised," he told me.

"No! Don't be," I said, smoothing his hair with one of my hands. "We have our whole lives to visit each other! Don't feel bad for missing one visit."

He smiled, "Thanks."

At nine o'clock, the fireworks started. They exploded into red white and blue in many designs such as Hercules holding his sword over his head, Odysseus defeating Cerberus the three headed dog from the underworld and then each of the Big Twelve Greek gods and goddesses.

I leaned against Adam and he put his arms around me. Right then and there, I didn't want to be anywhere else except for where I was, wrapped in Adam's strong embrace.

Right when the last firework exploded, he turned my chin towards him and pressed his lips against mine. I slid my hand around his neck and kissed him back.

It was the perfect cheesy ending to a Fourth of July barbeque but I loved it.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Are you absolutely positive that this is going to work?" I asked Brittany for the fifth time.

"Yes, Riley. I've checked it over three times, edited it seven times, and got Chiron to edit it twice." Brittany answered.

"Gosh, guys! Who cares? It's just a quest." James said as our whole camp weren't depending on us.

"So remind me what the plan is, again? Or can we just make it up as we go along?" Adam asked.

"Not this time." I answered. " The plan is to take a bus to Mattituck and Westchester, a train to North Carolina, to drive to Ohio, drive to Michigan, fly to Texas, and then drive to New Mexico to rest a few nights, take a bus to Colorado, take a train to San Francisco, drive to Bakersfield, fly to Washington, and then get picked up by Chiron and Argus."

"Uh... I think I got that." Adam said. "Who's driving?"

Our last driving experience ended quite unfortunately, so I knew Adam was hoping it was someone with a licence.

"I am," James answered. "I'm seventeen. I got my licence this year."

"Good," Justin, Adam and I said at the same time.

We grabbed our bags and followed Adam to the camp borders. I felt my stomach tie itself in knots. Even though I had done this before, I was really nervous.

Chiron was there to send us off just like last year. We approached him and he said, "I wish you the best of luck on your quest. Before I leave, I would like to present each of you with something."

He pulled out five bags of nectar and ambrosia, the food of the gods, American money for each of us, and a sack of golden drachmas, the Ancient Greek currency.

"Thank you," we all said.

"When you go on your flights, take Olympian Airlines. Just go through the janitor's closet and you'll find it. I didn't make you book your flights because they take last minute flights and emergency flights. It'll take shorter than usual, so the plane ride shouldn't take more than a few hours to reach your destinations. It's three drachmas for a flight."

"Three drachmas?" Brittany raised her eyebrows. "That's all?"

Chiron nodded. "Argus is ready for you. Once again, good luck to all of you."

We all thanked him and then headed down Half-blood hill towards the white van. I looked back at Camp Half-blood and had a horrible vision of the whole thing being burned down and thousands of monsters raiding it.

Argus drove us all the way to Mattituck. We stepped out of the white van and thanked Argus who nodded in reply and wished us luck.

We watched as he drove off into the distance.

The five of us took a deep breathe at the same time.

"Okay, where do we find this kid?" James asked.

A sudden thought entered my mind. Jackson. Steven Jackson. He had the same last name as Percy Jackson, who was a son of Poseidon which made him my brother. I'm sure there were thousands of other Jackson's in the world but somehow I was sure of it. Steven Jackson was also my brother.

I pulled a slip of paper out of my backpack.

"He's Percy Jackson's brother." I said.

"Are you sure?" Brittany queried.

I nodded. "Positive. Here's his address." I showed them the address: 1194, Beach Street, Mattituck, New York.

"Perfect. We're on 26th Street right now so let's get walking." Justin led the way down the street.

It was fairly busy on the streets and dark clouds over us cracked and rumbled with thunder. Soon a light rain began to fall. We smelled the sea everywhere and sometimes caught a glimpse of it between houses and buildings.

We turned two corners and kept on walking. The street we were on had a stone wall raising a little bit above the street. On the other side, there was a beach. The dark grey waves rolled in and out of the shore. There were houses lined up on the beach, all of them small and very old looking.

"Okay," Adam said. "This is Beach Street. We need to find 1194." he jumped over the wall and waited for us.

James and Justin followed him and them Brittany and I.

We walked together along the beach, looking for the right address.

I breathed in the smell of the saltwater feet in the sand. This was the kind of house I wanted. Right by the ocean. I could swim all day long and not worry about anything.

Adam caught my eye and gave me a smile that told me he knew what I was thinking. He slipped his hand into mine. I smiled back at him.

"Here it is, 1194." Brittany pointed at a small house with a shingled roof, blue shutters on the windows, and light grey walls.

Justin knocked three times and after a few moments, the door was answered by a tall boy around seventeen with black hair and deep green eyes, like mine. It was Percy!

When he saw us he said, "You're here! Chiron told me all about what's going to happen and about your quest. Come inside, Steven's ready."

We entered the small, neat house and saw a boy that greatly resembled Percy and a lady with brown eyes and black hair, who must have been their mother. She looked up and smiled at us, though worriedly.

She stood up and came over to shake our hands. "I'm Sally Jackson." she said.

We introduced ourselves.

"This is Steven." she gestured at Steven.

"Hi, Steven." we said.

"Hi," he replied. He looked confused and nervous.

"Chiron told us everything." Sally said. "I didn't expect Steven to go to Camp for another two years, but... with everything happening, I decided I'd let him go."

"Thank you," Adam said.

"Are you ready, sweetheart?" Sally asked Steven.

He nodded and stood up.

She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "You'll love it at Camp Half-blood. It's amazing there. I'll see you when the school year starts, okay?"

"Okay, Mom." he said.

"See ya, Steven." Percy said, giving his brother a hug.

"See ya, Percy," Steven answered.

"Good luck, you guys." Sally said.

"Thank you, Ms. Jackson." we replied.

Percy showed us to the door. Before we left he pulled out a slip of paper. "Call me when the time's right." he said. I hugged him before we exited the house.

We waved at Percy one last time before he closed the door.

"Where's the nearest bus station?" James asked.

"In town. I'll show you guys." Steven said. "Where do we need to go?"

"Westchester." I answered.

He nodded and took us back the way we came and then down the street towards town.

"Right there," Steven said, pointed at a bus stop. We sat down and waited for it to come in a rather awkward silence. The rain was still falling a little bit harder now.

Looking onto the road, we saw the bus approach and stood up. It screeched to a halt, spraying the water on the side of the road onto us.

"Gross." Brittany scowled.

The doors opened and let out a few passengers. We stepped in and showed our bus passes to the driver.

I slid into a seat and Adam sat down beside me. Justin, of course, sat down next to Brittany and James joined Steven in a seat across from us.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Are you absolutely positive that this is going to work?" I asked Brittany for the fifth time.

"Yes, Riley. I've checked it over three times, edited it seven times, and got Chiron to edit it twice." Brittany answered.

"Gosh, guys! Who cares? It's just a quest." James said as our whole camp weren't depending on us.

"So remind me what the plan is, again? Or can we just make it up as we go along?" Adam asked.

"Not this time." I answered. " The plan is to take a bus to Mattituck and Westchester, a train to North Carolina, to drive to Ohio, drive to Michigan, fly to Texas, and then drive to New Mexico to rest a few nights, take a bus to Colorado, take a train to San Francisco, drive to Bakersfield, fly to Washington, and then get picked up by Chiron and Argus."

"Uh... I think I got that." Adam said. "Who's driving?"

Our last driving experience ended quite unfortunately, so I knew Adam was hoping it was someone with a licence.

"I am," James answered. "I'm seventeen. I got my licence this year."

"Good," Justin, Adam and I said at the same time.

We grabbed our bags and followed Adam to the camp borders. I felt my stomach tie itself in knots. Even though I had done this before, I was really nervous.

Chiron was there to send us off just like last year. We approached him and he said, "I wish you the best of luck on your quest. Before I leave, I would like to present each of you with something."

He pulled out five bags of nectar and ambrosia, the food of the gods, American money for each of us, and a sack of golden drachmas, the Ancient Greek currency.

"Thank you," we all said.

"When you go on your flights, take Olympian Airlines. Just go through the janitor's closet and you'll find it. I didn't make you book your flights because they take last minute flights and emergency flights. It'll take shorter than usual, so the plane ride shouldn't take more than a few hours to reach your destinations. It's three drachmas for a flight."

"Three drachmas?" Brittany raised her eyebrows. "That's all?"

Chiron nodded. "Argus is ready for you. Once again, good luck to all of you."

We all thanked him and then headed down Half-blood hill towards the white van. I looked back at Camp Half-blood and had a horrible vision of the whole thing being burned down and thousands of monsters raiding it.

Argus drove us all the way to Mattituck. We stepped out of the white van and thanked Argus who nodded in reply and wished us luck.

We watched as he drove off into the distance.

The five of us took a deep breathe at the same time.

"Okay, where do we find this kid?" James asked.

A sudden thought entered my mind. Jackson. Steven Jackson. He had the same last name as Percy Jackson, who was a son of Poseidon which made him my brother. I'm sure there were thousands of other Jackson's in the world but somehow I was sure of it. Steven Jackson was also my brother.

I pulled a slip of paper out of my backpack.

"He's Percy Jackson's brother." I said.

"Are you sure?" Brittany queried.

I nodded. "Positive. Here's his address." I showed them the address: 1194, Beach Street, Mattituck, New York.

"Perfect. We're on 26th Street right now so let's get walking." Justin led the way down the street.

It was fairly busy on the streets and dark clouds over us cracked and rumbled with thunder. Soon a light rain began to fall. We smelled the sea everywhere and sometimes caught a glimpse of it between houses and buildings.

We turned two corners and kept on walking. The street we were on had a stone wall raising a little bit above the street. On the other side, there was a beach. The dark grey waves rolled in and out of the shore. There were houses lined up on the beach, all of them small and very old looking.

"Okay," Adam said. "This is Beach Street. We need to find 1194." he jumped over the wall and waited for us.

James and Justin followed him and them Brittany and I.

We walked together along the beach, looking for the right address.

I breathed in the smell of the saltwater feet in the sand. This was the kind of house I wanted. Right by the ocean. I could swim all day long and not worry about anything.

Adam caught my eye and gave me a smile that told me he knew what I was thinking. He slipped his hand into mine. I smiled back at him.

"Here it is, 1194." Brittany pointed at a small house with a shingled roof, blue shutters on the windows, and light grey walls.

Justin knocked three times and after a few moments, the door was answered by a tall boy around seventeen with black hair and deep green eyes, like mine. It was Percy!

When he saw us he said, "You're here! Chiron told me all about what's going to happen and about your quest. Come inside, Steven's ready."

We entered the small, neat house and saw a boy that greatly resembled Percy and a lady with brown eyes and black hair, who must have been their mother. She looked up and smiled at us, though worriedly.

She stood up and came over to shake our hands. "I'm Sally Jackson." she said.

We introduced ourselves.

"This is Steven." she gestured at Steven.

"Hi, Steven." we said.

"Hi," he replied. He looked confused and nervous.

"Chiron told us everything." Sally said. "I didn't expect Steven to go to Camp for another two years, but... with everything happening, I decided I'd let him go."

"Thank you," Adam said.

"Are you ready, sweetheart?" Sally asked Steven.

He nodded and stood up.

She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "You'll love it at Camp Half-blood. It's amazing there. I'll see you when the school year starts, okay?"

"Okay, Mom." he said.

"See ya, Steven." Percy said, giving his brother a hug.

"See ya, Percy," Steven answered.

"Good luck, you guys." Sally said.

"Thank you, Ms. Jackson." we replied.

Percy showed us to the door. Before we left he pulled out a slip of paper. "Call me when the time's right." he said. I hugged him before we exited the house.

We waved at Percy one last time before he closed the door.

"Where's the nearest bus station?" James asked.

"In town. I'll show you guys." Steven said. "Where do we need to go?"

"Westchester." I answered.

He nodded and took us back the way we came and then down the street towards town.

"Right there," Steven said, pointed at a bus stop. We sat down and waited for it to come in a rather awkward silence. The rain was still falling a little bit harder now.

Looking onto the road, we saw the bus approach and stood up. It screeched to a halt, spraying the water on the side of the road onto us.

"Gross." Brittany scowled.

The doors opened and let out a few passengers. We stepped in and showed our bus passes to the driver.

I slid into a seat and Adam sat down beside me. Justin, of course, sat down next to Brittany and James joined Steven in a seat across from us.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

After the longest three hours of my life, the bus pulled to a stop in front of a bus station. The six of us got up and stepped out of the bus, a cool summer breeze blowing past us.

"Okay," Brittany said. "It's says on the paper Chiron gave us that Katie Bell lives the closest to where we are. She should be in a big boarding school just a few streets away; Oak Street."

"How are we going to manage getting eighteen Half-bloods to camp?" James asked suddenly.

We were silent for a minute.

"I was thinking the same thing," Justin said. "What we could do is send one of us back with a few Half-bloods when there's too much or something."

"That's a good idea." Brittany told him.

Justin grinned.

"Wait but there's five of us and eighteen of them. How would that work out?" I asked. "And... in the end, one of us would be alone."

We were silent again.

"Well, if you... divide eighteen by five it's... uh..." Adam trailed off, counting on his fingers and muttering something to himself.

"Or you could each take four of us." Steven offered.

"Yes! Nice one, man." Justin gave Steven a knuckle-sandwich.

We turned the corner and found ourselves in front of a huge property with a gigantic campus and a large church building beside it.

A sign in front of the gates read, 'Westchester School of God and Westchester Church of God'

"Here we are." I said.

Brittany opened the gates and we headed towards the school building and opened the large front doors.

"Alright," James stopped us before entering the building. "The plan is to page them down to the office, alright?"

"Okay," we replied.

We opened the doors and walked into the office where a secretary was on the phone while scribbling down something furiously on a piece of paper.

"Alright..." she was saying. "Mh-hm. I'll be sure to tell her. Thank you. Bye, now."

She put down the phone and turned to us, smiling like every other secretary did. "Welcome to Westchester School of God, how can I help you?"

Justin knew what to do. He snapped his fingers (we'd need the Mist) and said, "Can you page Jini Arden and Katie Bell for us, please? We're her close friends of theirs and our families are going on a vacation together."

"Of course," the secretary seemed dazed, as though she didn't realize what she was saying. She picked up the phone, pressed a button and said, "Jini Arden and Katie Bell, come to the office, please."

Her words echoed all over the school.

"How'd you do that?" Steven whispered to Justin excitedly.

"I'll tell you when we get out, buddy." he answered.

A few minutes later, two girls wearing school uniforms, linking arms came into the office. One looked about ten or so with long brown hair pulled into pig-tails at the side of her head. The other looked around the same age with strawberry blonde hair and lots of freckles.

Before the secretary could say anything, I said said bye to her and hurried the little girls and everyone else out of the office. "Okay, don't be scared of us or anything... have you gotten a letter from one of your parents explaining um..."

"All the Greek Mythology stuff?" the one with the pig- tails finished for me.

"Yeah, that's the one!" I said.

They nodded.

"Okay, well we're going to take you to Camp Half-blood." Adam said so the secretary wouldn't hear.

We led the two girls outside and waited until we were outside of the gates .

"Wait, what about our stuff?" the strawberry blonde one asked.

"It'll all get sent to Camp Half-blood, don't worry." Brittany assured them. "I'm Brittany, by the way."

We all introduced ourselves.

"I'm Jini." The one with the pig-tails said.

"I'm Katie." the strawberry blonde one said.

"Pleased to be of your acquaintance." Justin said. "Not to be Mr. Johnny Raincloud or anything but... I smell monsters."

The three younger ones' eyes widened.

"Okay, let's get out of here! We need to get to the nearest train station." Adam said.

"The nearest one's probably fifteen minutes away." Jini said.

For two ten year old girls, they sure knew a lot.

"Let's just hope we make it," I said.

"What kind of monsters do you smell?" Katie asked. The two girls looked pretty darn scared.

"We don't exactly know. But don't worry about anything, okay? Justin, Adam, James, Riley and I have got it covered," Brittany assured them.

The girls nodded.

"Where are we going after this?" Steven asked.

"North Carolina," James answered.

Katie and Jini told us where to go and soon we could see the train station. The only strange thing, we realized as we approached it, it was completely empty and it reeked of monsters everywhere.

"Whoa, dude!" James held his nose. "I had no idea you girls had monsters so close to where you lived! You're lucky you haven't been attacked."

The girls' eyes widened.

"Okay...why is this place all empty?" Adam asked.

"Dude, it's giving me a weird feeling." Justin said warily.

"Same here. But someone has to get tickets," Brittany pointed out.

"I'll come!" Justin said immediately.

They both headed inside the building.

"Okay. I'm not scared." I told myself. It was absolutely silent except for us and absolutely empty, which was what terrified me the most.

Just then, something huge and black moved in the shadows.

"Guys!" James hissed. "Weapons out."

A sword key-chain on his backpack grew into full length as he drew it from the sheath. I uncapped Riptide and Adam's cell phone turned into a sword.

"Whoa! Cool!" Steven said, distracted from the fact that there was a monster somewhere near us.

Katie and Jini were clutching each others' hands, looking terrified.

The thing moved again, black as night.

"What is it?" I whispered to Adam.

"I think it's a Hellhound." he whispered. In a louder voice he said, "Everybody slowly make your way inside."

One steady step at a time, we went inside the building.

We heard a blood-curdling scream and suddenly Brittany and Justin were sprinting towards us.

"The- the ticket guy. He was... dead!" Brittany panted, white as a ghost.

"What?!" the rest of us said in unison.

I started to run towards the ticket booth when Adam grabbed my hand.

"You can't go alone. Not with a monster on the loose." he told me.

James followed us. When we got the window, we found blood splattered all over it.

I covered my scream with my mouth.

Adam and James both grimaced but bravely stepped towards the glass. There, lying on the floor was a bloody, severed body.

I felt like I was about to throw up. There was blood literally everywhere. Tears automatically sprang to my eyes.

"What are we going to do?" I asked in a small voice.

Adam took my hand right away.

"I'll go in." James offered.

"Ew! Are you sure?" I asked.

He nodded. "Some old dead guy doesn't scare me! I'm a man!"

Adam and I had to grin at this. James broke the lock of the door leading into the ticket booth. Blood squelched under his feet as he stepped towards the counter. Adam and I couldn't see him past all the splattered glass but he came out a few minutes later holding his nose; eight tickets in his hand.

"The train is supposed to come in about five minutes or so." he told us.

Adam and I nodded in reply and started back towards the others.

No matter where I looked, something was always moving in the shadows, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. I kept Riptide ready for any sudden attack.

"Okay, we got tickets." James told the others when we approached them.

"Thanks, man." Justin said.

"No problem. Just don't make me do it again," James grinned.

Just then, we saw a light coming from in the tunnel. The sound of a train came closer and closer and soon, a huge black train screeched to a halt in front of us.

"I don't have such a good feeling about this," Steven muttered as crowd stepped out of the train and frowned at the silence.

"Neither do I," I agreed in a low voice. "But that's the point of going on these quests. Not feeling good about things. It's usually means we're doing the right thing!"

Jini and Katie looked at me as though I were insane. I just shrugged and followed James, Adam and Justin into the train.

"Wait! Are we not going to do anything about that dead person?" Brittany hissed, hesitating to step onto the train.

Adam answered, "If we call 9-1-1, the cops will come. If the cops come, they'll question us. Who's going to believe whatever we tell them? For all we know, they could arrest us for kidnapping three little kids and murdering someone."

"What about the Mist?"

"We shouldn't risk it," Justin said.

"Right. Some mortals can see through the Mist," Brittany remembered. "Well... Let's go, then."

The others boarded the train and we split up into two compartments; Adam, Steven, James and I in one and Brittany, Justin, Jini, and Katie in the other. All the others were completely empty.

"Dude, doesn't it kinda freak you out that we were the only ones on the platform and now we're the only ones on the train? It's like... someone's planning something," James frowned.

"Three guesses who," Justin said sarcastically.

We sat in the eerie silence, listening to nothing but the sound of each others' breathing.

After what seemed like hours, the train whistle blew. All of us jumped at the sound of it as the train began to make it's way down the tracks, growing faster and faster.

"I'm so glad we got away from that-"

"Tickets please," a tall man appeared at the door. He had brown hair slicked back and a very large, very hooked nose. He looked down at us as though we were dirty rodents or something. He wore a uniform with a gold clip on name tag that read 'Roger' in black letters.

"Uh- here," James handed the tickets to him.

"Thank you," he said.

"Anytime, dude," James replied.

Roger rose an eyebrow. "It's strangely empty in here today. It's almost like... somebody's planning something," he said in a voice that sounded almost cunning.

"I know, dude. I have the same feeling," James agreed.

Roger turned around and walked back to the front of the train.

Just as Brittany and I opened our mouths to tell James he was so stupid not to have noticed that the guy was in on whatever the plan was, James said, "Dude, that guy is totally up to something. He's part of the plan, I know it."

"You're really good at playing innocent," Justin remarked.

He shrugged. "I have two older sisters, dude, I'm used to it."

"What are we going to do?" Katie asked. "Shouldn't we have a plan?"

"We usually make it up as we go along," Adam replied.

Jini and Katie exchanged glances.

"Can I have a weapon, too?" Steven asked.

"You'll start your training as soon as we get to Camp Half-blood. You'll get a weapon and learn how to use it. Don't worry, It'll only be a few weeks."

He nodded.

A huge THUMP on the roof of the train caused us to jump and look up at the ceiling.

"What the-" Adam broke off as huge chunk of the roof came off.

We screamed as a big, black, shaggy dog as big as a horse with blood red eyes and dagger sharp teeth.

"A Hellhound!" Adam said, jumping up and turning his phone into a sword.

Brittany, James, Justin, and I got our weapons out and stood up, getting out of the compartment to face the giant, snarling dog.

"Stay back, okay guys?" Justin told Steven, Jini, and Katie.

The Hellhound growled and lunged.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Adam stabbed the Hellhound's leg while it was in midair and it whined and tumbled to the floor, causing the still-moving train to shake. Seemingly invincible, the Hellhound advanced on Adam.

All five of us stood at the ready, dodging it's massive paws and razor sharp teeth.

"I have a plan," Justin said. "We need to get him on top of another compartment and separate it from the rest of the train.

"Good idea. How are we going to do that?" Adam asked, panting.

Justin slid away from the Hellhound and jumped, hoisting himself onto the open roof. "Just get him up here!"

"Justin, no!" Brittany exclaimed. "You could die!"

"Just do it!" Justin urged us. "Hey, big ugly! Over here, you big son of a-" Justin said something that I'd rather not repeat.

"You're gonna get it for that, Justin," I warned him as Steven howled with laughter despite the fact that we were in a potentially life-threatening situation.

The Hellhound turned around and in an instant, had jumped onto the roof of the train with Justin.

"When I tell you to, unhitch the two compartments, okay?" Justin shouted.

"He needs help!" James said. He climbed up with Justin.

"I'll do it," I offered.

"No," Adam told me.

"Why not?"

He opened his mouth. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll go with her," Brittany offered. "You stay here with Steven and the girls. Don't worry, Adam."

Adam nodded.

Brittany and I went to the back of our train compartment and opened a small door, the scenery was rushing past us. I bent down and took a hold of a metal bar hooked to another metal bar attached to the other train compartment. Brittany held onto my other hand to keep me steady.

I heard the Hellhound howl in pain as Justin and James fought it.

"Ready?" Justin shouted from up top.

"Ready!" I called back.

The Hellhound was struggling to keep itself from falling as James and Justin pressed as hard as they could. Eventually, it took a giant leap so as not to fall off and landed on the other compartment.

"NOW!" both boys yelled.

I yanked the bar upwards and the bar became detached. The other half of the train stopped moving while ours kept on chugging down the tracks.

Brittany helped pull me up and we stepped back inside.

Justin and James dropped from the roof in front of us.

"You were so brave!" Brittany exclaimed. She gave James a hug and then attempted to embrace Justin. Instead, Justin kissed her right on the lips.

"Um... guys... right now isn't the time to have a moment," Adam pointed out.

Reluctantly, the two broke apart. Justin had a really dreamy look on his face and Brittany turned dark red.

I slapped Justin on the cheek. "That's for swearing," I told him as he cried out in pain and rubbed his red cheek.

Everyone else laughed.

Jini and Katie had their hands over their eyes and Steven looked like he'd rather be anywhere in the world than here. Adam, James and I snickered as Justin and Brittany looked in embarrassment at anyone but each other.

"Okay," James broke the silence after a few minutes. "Are you kids okay?" he asked the three others in the compartment.

They nodded.

"Justin, James, you guys okay?" Adam asked.

Both boys nodded.

"Good. Now obviously that dude Roger or whatever had something to do with this whole Hellhound thing," James said. "We have to be prepared if he attacks us next."

"If he doesn't," Brittany continued. "We know something fishy is going on."

"Or something doggy," James grinned. We all looked at him. "You know, doggy 'cause we fought a Hell... never mind."

"Whatever you say, James," Adam shook his head. "This is going to be a long train ride. Might as well get comfortable. He leaned back in his seat and put his arm around me.

I blushed as Steven and James exchanged glances and muttered, "Gross."

"Yeah, well look over there," Adam nodded towards the other compartment where Brittany and Justin were kissing each other. Katie and Jini had their hands over their eyes again.

"Uh... Brittany and Justin, way too much PDA, dudes. You know... physical display of affection. There are children watching," James called to them.

Steven, James, Adam, and I laughed as the two jumped apart and glared at James.

Less than an hour later, most of us were nearly asleep, waiting for the train ride to end. Just then, the train was thrown off the tracks with a deafening blow and with a loud crash, the train compartment landed on it's side. With a yell, I landed on the broken glass of the window and felt warm blood trickle out of my cheek.

It was silent for a second, in shock, breathing hard. I forced myself to open my eyes and look around. Adam was next to me, trying to pry his leg out from under the seat that had come off. James was helping Steven up.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked through gritted teeth as he tried lifting the seat up.

I couldn't find my voice so I just nodded, although my cheek was throbbing. My hands shook as I tried to pick out the bits of glass in my cheek and arm.

"Here," Adam inched closer to me, wincing in pain and helped me. I held onto his hand after, looking for a way to help him get the seat off.

"Are you guys alright?" James asked, a deep cut in his forehead.

"Can you help me get this off my leg?" Adam asked. "Riley, you go and see if the others are okay."

I nodded and stood up, realizing with horror that Justin, Brittany, Jini, and Katie were right above me. I looked up and saw the glass door of their compartment cracked, looking like it was about to break at any second.

Brittany and Justin had carefully stood up and were helping the girls.

"Are you okay?" Justin very carefully slid the door open an inch.

I nodded. "We need to get out of here, though. That door could break any minute.

"What about the others?"

"Well, one of the seats came off and Adam's leg is trapped under it. James is helping him," I replied, my voice small. "Are you guys okay?"

He nodded. "A few cuts and bruises but nothing that bad."

"Can you help me open that emergency exit back there?" I asked him.

"I can try," he carefully lowered himself out of the door and crawled with me to the back of the compartment.

"What happened?" I said.

Justin frowned. "I don't know. It must have been that Roger dude, though. He's probably working for Hades and trying to stop us. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of him."

Sudden screams made us jump and spin around.

"No, certainly not," Roger himself was standing right in front of us, a cunning smile on his face.

To our horror, James, Steven, Adam, Brittany, Jini, and Katie were all in the compartment that I had been in when the train exploded, hands tied behind their back and gagged at the mouth.

Justin and I stood up.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

Roger sneered. "I thought you already knew. My name is Roger and I work for lord Hades. It's a pleasure to be of your acquaintance."

"I'm sure it is," Justin snapped. "We'll make you a deal, Roger. We'll fight this out. If you win, you can do whatever you want with us, no hesitations. But if we win, we get the others and you leave. Deal?"

"That is a very foolish deal for two young demi-gods to make," Roger said. "But, if it is what you wish, then it's a deal."

I took my lethal ballpoint pen, Riptide, out of my pocket and uncapped it. It turned into a magnificent sword with a bronze blade and a glowing green hilt. Justin took his little club key chain and it grew into full size, metal spikes and all.

With a smirk, Roger took a gun out of the back of his belt.

I felt the colour drain out of my face. Justin swore under his breath. We were going to die!

I heard Adam and the others trying to break free. Adam had managed to un-gag himself and shouted, "Put the gun down! Don't touch them!"

Roger merely ignored him, cocking the gun and aiming the gun above our heads. Justin and I looked up just as Roger pulled the trigger. The glass window above us shattered as the bullet hit it and Justin and I tried to jump out of the way, covering our heads.

I stood up and pulled a small shard of glass out of my arm, wincing and blinking back tears. I swung my sword at Roger who melted into thin air and reappeared right beside me. Justin tried attacking him from the back but Roger disappeared again and this time reappeared by the others.

"What do you want?" Adam growled, trying to get his hands free.

Roger looked distastefully down at Adam, cocking the gun and held it against his head.

I screamed, "NO!"

Roger raised his eyebrow. "It wasn't in the deal that I wasn't allowed to touch them."

I ran at him and crashed into him as he pulled the trigger. Instead of shooting Adam in the head, the bullet hit his arm and Adam yelled out, his face contorted with pain. Blood started to trickle down his arm.

Jini and Katie screamed and James, Steven and Brittany were trying desperately to untie themselves.

"Adam!" I cried. I bent down, forgetting that there was someone trying to kill us. Right behind me. His eyes were squeezed shut, as though he were trying to forget about the pain. "Adam!"

"Distract him!" he said through gritted teeth. "I'll be fine."

Feeling a lump form in throat, I stood up and turned to Roger who had gotten to his feet and, glaring, was advancing on me, all of his concentration on killing me.

Fear coursed through me like a bucket of black, ice cold water as I backed up, my hands shaking. I felt my grip on Riptide begin to weaken and my knees shaking, threatening to give away. I shot Justin a look and as I held my sword at the ready, Justin swung his club at Roger's head from behind.

There was a crack in which Justin's club hit Roger's head and Roger pulled the trigger of the gun.

I screamed as my forehead exploded in pain as the bullet grazed it. I clamped a hand over where it hit me automatically and felt hot, wet blood on my fingers. My knees wobbled and gave away and I found myself on the floor of train.

"Riley!" Adam exclaimed through his own pain.

Roger was on the floor, either dead or unconscious, blood trickling out of his mouth. I felt glued to the spot, my heart beating a hundred miles an hour and my forehead throbbing with pain.

I found the strength to move and quickly bent down to help untie the others.

"Are you okay?" asked Steven, his face pale.

"I think so," I replied, though my vision was starting to blur with tears. "What about you?"

He nodded.

Justin was tending to the others, untying Jini and Katie and then embracing Brittany tightly.

"You are so lucky that didn't kill you!" James remarked.

I nodded and immediately turned to Adam.

"Riles," he pulled me into a hug with his good arm, holding me tight. He stroked my hair. "You're okay."

"What about you?" I asked, stifling a sob. I took his arm very gently. The bullet was still in his arm and the blood was coming steadily out of it.

"I'll be fine... do you have nectar and ambrosia?" he asked.

I nodded and went to find my backpack. When I pulled it from under a broken seat, I unzipped it and reached in for the Ziploc bag nectar and ambrosia.

"Riley, are you okay?" Justin asked, kneeling beside me and turning my head towards him.

"I think... as soon as I take some of this nectar and ambrosia. What about you, Justin?"

"I'm fined. I'm so glad you're still alive, Riles! That scared the crap out of me!" he hugged me tightly.

"Me too," I agreed ruefully, my forehead throbbing in pain. "How are we going to get the bullet out of Adam?"

Justin frowned. "I don't know. We'll have to get it out before we give him this though," he nodded at the bag. "Here," he gave a square of nectar and a chocolate chip-ambrosia cookie and then we both went over to Adam.

"We need to get out of here," James said, standing up. Him and Justin went to open the emergency exit door and let the rest of us climb out.

"Guys, you need to get out of here. I'm going to try to get the bullet out of Adam's arm and... you don't want to b there," Justin told us.

"What? You are?" Adam blanched.

"I'll stay too," I said, trying to get back in.

Justin held me back. "Riles, that's not a good idea. You need to stay outside with the others. I'll be like... five minutes, okay?"

I opened my mouth and tried to say something, looking past Justin at Adam.

"I'll be fine, Riles. Justin's right; you shouldn't watch," he told me.

I gave up and waited outside. My mouth dropped open when I saw that our train compartment had just made it off a bridge and the rest of the train had broken the rails of the bridge and fallen into the dark waters below.

"Oh my gosh," Brittany breathed. "We almost died!"

"What about that man?" Jini asked. "Is he dead?"

"I don't know," Brittany shook her head. Then she said to all of us, "If we follow the train tracks, we should make it to North Carolina-"

A loud, terrible yell and an endless string of obscenities coming from inside the train interrupted her. I winced and gritted my teeth, wanting to run in there and be with Adam.

"Is he okay?" Katie breathed, shaking all over.

I put a comforting arm around her, "Yeah, he's okay." Or at least, I hoped.

"Good thing my mom isn't here," Steven remarked. "She'd go anal over all the swearing."

We kind of laughed.

A minute later, Adam and Justin came out. Adam's arm was bandage and he looked really mad at Justin.

I rushed over and gave him a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just fine," he replied, shooting a deathly look at Justin.

"Guys, if we follow the tracks, we should be able to make it to North Carolina soon. But we have to hurry; it's getting dark," Brittany said in an orderly voice.

"We can't rest?" said James.

"There's no time! This war could start any day and it's our duty to get all the Half-Bloods to safety," she exclaimed.

"Let's go then," Justin said.

"I'm scared," Jini whimpered. "Is that dog going to come back?"

"Hopefully not," I assured her. "Come on."

We started to walk down the tracks silently, replaying the sudden turn of events in our heads. I took Adam's hand and looked back as the train wreck slowly started to disappear.


End file.
